Frontstretch Newsletter: Feb. 19, 2024
Volume
XVIII, Edition XII |
Welcome our New Presenting Sponsor, Race Face Digital! |
The Frontstretch Newsletter is presented by Race Face Digital, the ultimate entertainment platform for race fans and collectors to collect, buy, sell and trade digital MP4 collectible racing cards. |
- Rain has made a complete mess of the weekend in Daytona. As a result, both the NASCAR Cup Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series will be racing today. The United Rentals 300 will start at 11 a.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. Daytona 500 coverage starts at 4 p.m. ET on FOX. We'll have recaps and breakdowns of both races for you at Frontstretch.
FOLLOW THE FRONTSTRETCH MONDAY IN DAYTONA THROUGH OUR COLLEAGUES: Also, don't forget to follow
our Twitter page, @Frontstretch as well for updates from Daytona. |
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| Daytona 500 Postponed to Monday
Afternoon Heavy rains in Daytona forced NASCAR to postpone the Daytona 500 Sunday morning. It will now start at 4 p.m. ET and will air live on FOX. |
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| Xfinity Series Race at Daytona Postponed to
Monday The NASCAR Xfinity Series United Rentals 300, originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon, has been postponed to 11 a.m. ET today due to rain. |
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| Jesse Love Wins 1st Pole, RCR Sweeps Front Row at
Daytona Prior to the rains arriving Saturday, Richard Childress Racing's Jesse Love won the pole for the United Rentals 300 with a lap at 181.079 mph. Teammate Austin Hill will start second, then AJ Allmendinger, Parker Kligerman and Shane van
Gisbergen. |
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| David Starr Qualifying Time Disallowed, Replaced by Dawson
Cram MBM Motorsports' David Starr had actually qualified for the United Rentals 300 on speed in 29th. However, his car flunked post-qualifying inspection, forcing him out of the race. |
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| A Big Year Lies Ahead for ‘Old School Guy’ Josh
Williams For Josh Williams, 2024 is crucial. He has the best equipment in his NASCAR career. He just has to show what he can do with it. |
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| Nick Sanchez Survives at Daytona for 1st Career Truck
Win Despite getting involved in an early crash, Rev Racing's Nick Sanchez was able to drive to the front and get himself clear of a last-lap crash to win the Fresh From Florida 250 for his first career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win. Corey Heim was
second, then Rajah Caruth, Bret Holmes and Spencer Boyd. |
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| Rajah Caruth Ushers In Spire’s New Era with Career Day at
Daytona Friday night was a career night for Rajah Caruth in his first race for Spire Motorsports. The sophomore driver scored a third-place finish in the wreck-strewn Truck season opener. |
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| Bret Holmes Leads Truck Underdogs Run to the Front at
Daytona Superspeedway races are often events where smaller teams can shine and Friday night's Fresh From Florida 250 was no exception. Bret Holmes, Spencer Boyd and Stefan Parsons are just three examples of this. |
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| Jennifer Jo Cobb Back At The Track After “Really Tough
Personal Stuff”: Looking To Rebuild Truck Program In 2024 The past couple of years have been really tough for Jennifer Jo Cobb. After a bunch of personal issues off the track, Cobb hopes to run a limited schedule with her No. 10 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2024. |
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| Gus Dean Wins ARCA Season Opener at
Daytona Late Friday night, Venturini Motorsports' Gus Dean took the lead away from teammate Jake Finch on the final lap and avoided a huge wreck to win the Sioux Chief Fast Track 200 at Daytona for the ARCA Menards Series. Thomas Annunziata was second, then Greg
Van Alst, Christian Rose and Tim Richmond. |
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| Marco Andretti’s Up-and-Down Day in His 1st Start at
Daytona Friday night marked Marco Andretti's debut in the ARCA Menards Series. It was largely a trial by fire for the INDYCAR veteran, but he was running in the top 10 until a blown tire ended his night. |
Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography, NASCAR Media via James Gilbert of Getty Images and our own Jacob Seelman. Have
news for Frontstretch? Don't hesitate to let us know; email us at frontstretcheditors@googlegroups.com with a promising lead or tip. |
Around the World in Motorsports: Feb. 16-18 |
- In mixed conditions at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, Manthey EMA's Matt Campbell, Ayhancan Guven and Laurens Vanthoor claimed the overall victory early Sunday morning in the Repco Bathurst 12 Hour, the opening round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge. Their margin of victory was 2.6336 seconds over SunEnergy1 Racing's Jules Gounon, Kenny Habul and Luca Stolz. Wash It Team MPC's
Christopher Haase, Kelvin van der Linde and Liam Talbot were third in their Audi, followed by Phantom Global Racing's Porsche for Bastian Buus, Joel Erikkson and Jaxon Evans. Team WRT's Raffaele Marciello, Maxime Martin and Valentino Rossi. - In the sole NASCAR Cup Series practice session of the weekend in Daytona, Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin was fastest overall
with a lap at 197.477 mph in the draft Friday. Hamlin's lap was .002 seconds faster than Legacy Motor Club's Erik Jones. Christopher Bell was third, then Ty Gibbs and John Hunter Nemechek. Hamlin's lap is the fastest lap turned with with the Next Gen car to this point. RFK Racing's Chris Buescher did not participate in the session due to his wife going into labor.
Buescher's wife Emma gave birth to a baby boy Friday night and Chris will be back for the race. David Ragan ran four laps in the No. 17 Ford just to shake it down. - At the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals Friday night, Devin Moran took the lead away on lap 14 when Cade Dillard jumped the cushion in turn 2. From there, he held off the pack to take the World of Outlaws
CASE Construction Late Model Series feature win. Moran won by .267 seconds over Chris Madden. Bobby Pierce was third, then Max Blair and Brandon Sheppard. - Also Friday night was the Super DIRTcar Series feature. Here, Larry Wight was in good position
to win until he ran up on Brett Hearn with eight laps to go. Contact was made, sending both cars over the cushion. Once he regained control, Wight rejoined the track, but then hit
Erick Rudolph, who was running second at the time.
Wight drove into turn 1 a little too fast, slid over the cushion and rolled his No. 99l to bring out the red flag. Matt Sheppard slipped past both drivers to take the lead before the red came out. From there, he held on for the win.
Rudolph ended up finishing second, then Mat Williamson and Alex Payne. Anthony Perrego was fifth. Due to the same rainstorms that postponed both the Daytona 500 and the United Rentals 300 to Monday, the final night of the Federated Auto Parts DIRTcar Nationals was rained out. |
This is just a sampling of the 73 videos that have been uploaded to our YouTube channel since Wednesday in Daytona. For more Daytona videos, or coverage from other race weekends, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and don't forget to click the bell to be notified of future videos. |
Seeking the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship: Tyler Ankrum Scores 17 Stage Points, Takes Points Lead
by Phil Allaway
Tyler Ankrum won stage two Friday night and scored a race-high 17 stage points in Daytona. Despite finishing in 11th, that was enough to give him the points lead to start the season. Ankrum has a one-point lead over Nick Sanchez, who earned his first career victory. Christian Eckes is third in the standings, followed by a tie
for fourth between Bret Holmes and Matt Crafton. Holmes gets the tiebreaker by virtue of his fourth-place finish. Corey Heim is sixth in points after finishing second, but only scoring two stage points. Ty Majeski was strong early on. As a result, he is seventh in points despite getting caught up in the big crash
on the last lap and finishing 16th. Rajah Caruth finished a career-best third and will leave Daytona in eighth.. Spencer Boyd and Bayley Currey are tied for ninth. Boyd, in his debut as a owner/driver, finished fifth in his Chevrolet. Currey got caught up in multiple wrecks and finished 13th with eight stage points. They are the
last two drivers in the playoffs on points at the moment. Boyd and Currey are one point ahead of Stefan Parsons, who finished sixth. Timmy Hill is 12th after finishing eighth. Bryan Dauzat is 13th after finishing ninth. Jason White is 14th, while Taylor Gray is 15th after his last-lap flip. Stewart
Friesen, thanks to his 14th-place finish, holds the 16th-place tiebreaker over Grant Enfinger, Jack Wood and Daniel Dye.
Point Standings (1-16): 1) Tyler Ankrum 43, 2) Nick Sanchez -1, 3) Christian Eckes
-4, t-4) Bret Holmes -5, t-4) Matt Crafton -5, 6) Corey Heim -6, 7) Ty Majeski -8, 8) Rajah Caruth -9, t-9) Spencer Boyd -11, t-9) Bayley Currey -11, 11) Stefan Parsons -12, 12) Timmy Hill -14, 13) Bryan Dauzat
-15, 14) Jason White -18, 15) Taylor Gray -19, t-16) Stewart Friesen -20, t-16) Grant Enfinger -20, t-16) Jack Wood -20, t-16) Daniel Dye -20. Playoff
Points: 1) Nick Sanchez 5, t-2) Tyler Ankrum -4, t-2) Johnny Sauter -4. Stage Points: 1) Tyler Ankrum 17, 2) Ty Majeski -3, 3) Christian Eckes -5, 4) Johnny Sauter
-7, t-5) Bayley Currey -9, t-5) Matt Crafton -9, 7) Daniel Dye -10, t-8) Taylor Gray -11, t-8) Ben Rhodes -11, 10) Bret Holmes -12, 11) Jack Wood -13, 12) Grant Enfinger -14, t-13) Nick Sanchez -15,
t-13) Corey Heim -15, t-13) Dean Thompson -15. Note: If he were eligible for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points, Corey LaJoie would be 11th in stage points. Old Point Standings (1-16): 1)
Nick Sanchez 37, t-2) Corey Heim -6, t-2) Rajah Caruth -6, 4) Bret Holmes -7, 5) Spencer Boyd -9, 6) Stefan Parsons -10, 7) Matt Crafton -11, 8) Timmy Hill -12, t-9) Bryan Dauzat -13, t-9) Christian Eckes
-13, 11) Tyler Ankrum -14, 12) Jason White -16, 13) Bayley Currey -17, t-14) Stewart Friesen -18, t-14) Tanner Gray -18, 16) Ty Majeski -19. WC Points (1-16): 1) Nick Sanchez
185, t-2) Corey Heim -15, t-2) Rajah Caruth -15, 4) Bret Holmes -20, 5) Spencer Boyd -30, 6) Stefan Parsons -35, 7) Matt Crafton -39, 8) Timmy Hill -43, 9) Christian Eckes -46, 10) Bryan Dauzat
-47, 11) Tyler Ankrum -50, 12) Jason White -58, 13) Bayley Currey -61, 14) Tanner Gray -62, 15) Stewart Friesen -64, 16) Ty Majeski -65. Race Winners: Nick Sanchez
(Daytona) Phil Allaway is the Frontstretch newsletter manager. He can be reached at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.
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